ICE Agent’s Murder Renews Fear About The Brutality of Mexico’s Narco War

I have provided you with an extremely disturbing news report that details the murder of one of our nation’s ICE special agents, Jamie Zapata and the wounding of his partner as they reportedly drove from Mexico City to Monterrey in Mexico. At the time of the attack they were in an official United States government-owned SUV with diplomatic license plates.

The news report appeared online on the Examiner and was written by Kimberly Dvorak, a reporter with whom I have spoken on a number of occasions to provide my perspectives on immigration news reports she was working on.

According to Kimberly’s report, the brutal attack was believed to have been carried out by members of the Zetas, extremely violent drug gang members who were, in fact, trained by the government of the United States in an outreach program that was supposed to provide Mexican military and law enforcement officials with tactical training to enable them to help wage war against the narcotics trafficking organizations in Mexico. Once trained and, apparently equipped by our government, at significant expense to the American taxpayers, these former members of the Mexican army and law enforcement agencies “switched sides” and became the enforcers to the Mexican drug cartels they were supposed to put out of business!

In some instances, the Zetas did come to oppose the Mexican Cartels but not in the way our naive government had hoped or expected- the Zetas supplanted their former employers, the cartels, that paid them for their “services!”

Now it is reported that the United States government is assisting the Mexican government in investigating this incredibly brutal attack on two officials of the government of the United States! According to the news report, Mexican law enforcement will take the lead in this murder/assault investigation!

I demand to know why the United States is not taking the lead in this investigation- and so should you!

Consider this excerpt from the news report and pay special intention to the highlighted sentence:

Early reports say members from the Los Zetas cartel opened fire inside the SUV after agents rolled down their window to show their U.S. badges. Zapata was shot many times in the abdomen and died on the scene.

Details are still emerging from Mexico where U.S. officials have stated they will assist with the investigation of the crime, but have decided to let Mexican authorities take the lead.

“I’m deeply saddened by the news that earlier today, two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents assigned to the ICE Attache office in Mexico City were shot in the line of duty while driving between Mexico City and Monterrey by unknown assailants,” said Secretary of Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

“Let me be clear: any act of violence against our ICE personnel – or any DHS personnel – is an attack against all those who serve our nation and put their lives at risk for our safety. The full resources of our Department are at the disposal of our Mexican partners in this investigation. We remain committed in our broader support for Mexico’s efforts to combat violence within its borders,” Napolitano said in a statement.

The murder of an ICE agent renews fears and anxiety about the sustained brutality of Mexico’s narco war and it remains to be seen how serious the Obama Administration is when it comes to America’s third war.

Let me repeat the unbelievable sentence:

“Details are still emerging from Mexico where U.S. officials have stated they will assist with the investigation of the crime, but have decided to let Mexican authorities take the lead.”

The two U.S. federal agents were clearly intentionally targeted in what has to be considered an assassination and the very same federal agency, the Department of Homeland Surrender, that sent these two valiant federal agents into harm’s way is content to permit the same corrupt government investigate the attack that left one agent dead and the other seriously wounded?

Just two months ago a United States Border Patrol agent. Brian Terry was brutally killed inside the United States while he was on duty in his clearly identifiable uniform and now two of our agents inside Mexico in a clearly marked United States official vehicle were shot numerous times as they apparently displayed their badges to those who shot them!

Clearly the thugs who killed Special Agent Jamie Zapata knew precisely who they were killing! Special Agent Zapata was reportedly shot numerous times in the abdomen, something that not only killed him but must have caused him to suffer incredibly excruciating pain before he died and the government of the United States of America is now content to have the Mexican government take the lead in the investigation of federal agents operating in that corrupt country!

What will it take to get our government to get serious?

Napolitano is the same “leader” who said the “System worked” when “Captain Underpants” attempted to detonate a bomb in his underwear on Christmas Day on 2009 when, in reality the only thing that kept the airliner in which he was a passenger from disintegrating in the skies over Detroit as the plane was preparing to land, was a bit of incredibly good luck and the incompetence of the terrorist who attempted to destroy that airliner over Detroit.

Napolitano is someone who should know better but apparently has decided to “Go along to get along!”

She seizes every opportunity to tell us that our border is secure even as the violence in Mexico continues to accelerate!

She talks about the Mexican border but ignores the Canadian border that according to a recent GAO report, only exists on maps- considering that only 32 miles of that roughly four thousand mile border is under the “operation control” of the United States Border Patrol.

She tells us that at least 230 cities in the United States from coast to coast and border to border have been infested by members of the extremely violent Mexican drug cartels while other cities are also infested by members of pernicious transnational gangs from the four corners of our planet but never, ever talks about the need to ramp up efforts to enforce immigration laws from within the interior of the United States- even in conjunction with task force operations such as the task force to which I was assigned for more than a decade, the Organized Crime, Drug Enforcement Task Force.

She continues to beat the drum in support of Comprehensive Immigration Reform but blithely ignores the fact that there is virtually no integrity to be found in the program under which applications for various immigration benefits including the conferring of resident alien status and even United States citizenship. USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) is the agency that is responsible for administering the benefits program and time and again reports by the GAO (General Accountability Office) and the OIG (Office of the Inspector General) provide ample evidence that this woebegone agency is inept, incompetent and morally corrupt! This is the very same agency that would be called upon to provide lawful status and a “pathway to United States citizenship” for unknown millions of illegal aliens whose true identities (including even their countries of citizenship) are unknown and unknowable.

If you cannot establish an individual’s identity, you cannot determine his background, possible affiliation with transnational gangs, drug trafficking organizations or terrorist organizations!

And now, adding insult to injury- indeed, insult to death- Napolitano is content to have the corrupt government of Mexico investigate the assassination of Special Agent Jamie Zapata! How must Special Agent Zapata’s family feel about this? How must the injured agent and his family feel about this? How must the other employees of ICE feel about this?

I can tell you how I feel about this- I am absolutely outraged!!!

Clearly Janet Napolitano needs to be replaced by someone who understands the magnitude of the crisis and is willing to stand up for our nation, our citizens and the thousands of federal agents and other employees who are under her chain of command!

The time has long since come for the federal government to live up to its absolute obligation of securing its borders against unlawful entry, and honoring those countless millions of lawful immigrants who came to this country from the four corners of our planet to begin their lives anew and thereby create what has come to be known as the “American Dream” by instilling in the immigration system real integrity.

Nothing less than the survival of our nation and our citizens hang in the balance!

A country without secure borders can no more stand than can a house without walls!

If our country is to survive and if our children and their children are to get their share of the “American Dream” the citizens of this nation must take their citizenship seriously!

We the People must be the best citizens we can be, citizens who are worthy of the gallantry demonstrated by our valiant men and women in the military, law enforcement and firefighters, who routinely go in harm’s way in defense of this nation and our citizens.

My goal in writing this and other commentaries is to point out our nations many failings before more victims pay the ultimate price for the incompetence and ineptitude of our government.

The first step in problem-solving is to first identify the problems and vulnerabilities and then devise strategies to overcome them.

If you find yourself to be in agreement with this commentary, I ask that you forward it to as many of your friends and family members as possible and encourage them to do the same. We need to create a “Bucket Brigade of Truth!”

The practice of good citizenship does not end in the voting booth, it only begins there. The large scale apathy demonstrated by citizens of this nation has emboldened elected representatives to all but ignore the needs of the average American citizen in a quest for massive campaign funds and the promises of votes to be ostensibly delivered by special interest groups. There is much that we cannot do but there is one thing that We the People absolutely must do- we must stop sitting on the sidelines!

The collective failure of We the People to get involved in make our concerns known to our politicians have nearly made the concerns of the great majority of the citizens of this nation all but irrelevant to the politicians. I implore you to resolve this year to get involved!

I believe our nation’s is greatly benefited by the rich diversity of our people which is why I could never imagine living anywhere except New York City, arguably the most diverse city in our nation if not, in fact, the world. However, my idea of diversity most certainly does not include members of MS-13, the Mexican drug cartels or members of other transnational gangs or members of al-Qaeda!

If this situation concerns you or especially if it angers you, I ask you to call your Senators and Congressional “Representative. This is not only your right- it is your obligation!

All I ask is that you make it clear to our politicians that we are not as dumb as they hope we are!

We live in a perilous world and in a perilous era. The survival of our nation and the lives of our citizens hang in the balance. This is neither a Conservative issue, nor is it a Liberal issue- simply stated, this is most certainly an AMERICAN issue!

You are either part of the solution or you are a part of the problem!

Democracy is not a spectator sport! Lead, follow or get out of the way!

Michael Cutler, a former Senior INS Investigator, an expert witness in more than a dozen Congressional Hearings is a Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and an advisor to the ‘911 Families for a Secure America.’ He writes about the nexus between immigration and national security.